IMF tips Uganda on infrastructure devt KAMPALA-Scaling up infrastructure investment will be key to faster economic growth in Uganda, while fiscal and monetary policy need to be adjusted to ensure macro-economic stability, the International Monetary Fund said.
The Washington-based body said generally-sound macro-economic policymaking had helped East Africa’s third largest economy, on the cusp of becoming a significant oil producer, weather the global financial crisis and other external shocks.
“The main challenge facing economic policy-makers at present is to adjust fiscal and monetary policies to safeguard macro-economic stability and rebuild policy buffers, including international reserves,” the IMF said in a statement late on Wednesday.
“Scaling up infrastructure investment will also be key to faster growth over the medium term.”
Uganda targets growth of 7% in the 2011/12 fiscal year. Soaring food and oil prices and a battered local currency drove inflation to 16% in May, mirroring a trend of rising prices across East Africa.
IMF said the Bank of Uganda was committed to tightening its monetary policy stance if price pressures intensified.
Note: Extract fron New Vision Ug
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